Culture

Latest News

• “There is a profiteering and militarist attack on Hasankeyf” 

  Initiative to Keep Hasankeyf Alive activist Ercan Ayboğa protested the demolition in Hasankeyf and stressed that the State of Emergency is being used to facilitate the demolition.
• One of the richest languages in the Middle East banned 

  HPG guerrilla Piran Medya stated that after joining the guerrilla ranks he came to understand the importance and meaning of languages the more.
• The bard of the Middle East: Aram Tigran 

  Aram Tigran, who gave life to famous songs like Ey "Dilberê and Bilbilo", kept on singing his songs until his last breath. His lifework comprises 500 songs in Armenian, Kurdish, Syriac, Arabic, Turkish languages. He was literally a ceremony of languages.
• “Turkey wants to clear the region of ancient peoples” 

  "Nothing has ever changed in the demands of the Syriac people from east to west: The Turkish state must be prosecuted for their crimes in history, and pay for it!"
• Kurdish female cartoonists in Iran facing death threats 

  In Iran the Kurdish female caricaturist Atena Farghadani and painter Atena Daemi are facing death threats due to the cartoons they draw critical of the system.
• Book on Rojava Revolution in Russian 

  A group of young people from various occupations in Russia visited Rojava (Western Kurdistan) and wrote a book on their observations on the life there and the revolution.
• Munzur Festival banned 

  Tunceli Governorate has banned the 17th Munzur Culture and Nature Festival set to take place in Dersim between 27-30 July 2017.
• Trustee removes the signboard at Cegerxwin Culture Centre in Amed 

  The intolerance of appointed trustees to usurped DBP municipalities towards statues and monuments in parks, gardens and common areas, as well as Kurdish names continue.
• Call for participation in the Mazlum Doğan Youth Festival 

  Ciwanên Azad UK has called on the Kurdish youth in Europe to ensure strong participation in the 20th Mazlum Doğan Youth Festival that will be held in Blegny, Belgium this year.
• Campaign for Kurdish traditional clothes launched in Doğubayazıt 

  A campaign to 'Wear regional traditional clothes and stand up for your culture' has been launched in Doğubayazıt district of Ağrı province.
• Europa Nostra statement on endangered heritage site of Hasankeyf 

  The Board of Europa Nostra deeply deplores the decision of the Turkish government to build a dam that would lead to the flooding of a site of world significance, without proper and transparent justification and without adequate compensation measures.
• Protest against Dutch company relocating monuments in Hasankeyf 

  Activists have protested the Dutch company Bresser at its headquarter for its relocation of historical monuments of the town of Hasankeyf, Northern Kurdistan.
• AKP usurps the churches and monasteries in Mardin 

  The AKP government has usurped churches, monasteries and graveyards belonging to the Syriac community in Mardin and handed them over as state property to the Diyanet, Turkey's Presidency for Religious Affairs.
• 7th Kurdish Film Festival kicks off in Berlin 

  The 7th Kurdish film festival has kicked off in Germany's capital city Berlin and will continue for a week, presenting movies from all four parts of Kurdistan to cinemagoers. In addition panels all about the history of Kurdish cinema will be held.
• 'Kobane Calling' comic translated into German 

  The comic of Italian cartoonist Michele Rech (alias Zerocalcare), which depicts the Kobanê resistance, is now available in German.
• World Heritage Watch report on the destruction of Sur 

  A new report has been released by the World Heritage Watch on the destruction of large parts of the 7000 years old city (Suriçi) of Amed (Diyarbakir) in North Kurdistan by the Turkish state since the beginning of 2016.
• Iranian regime declares war on the Latin alphabet and Kurmanci 

  The Iranian regime launched an investigation on Khorasani author Ebas Ismaili for preparing an educational book on the Kurmanci dialect of Kurdish in the Latin alphabet.
• Germany bans Êzidî Culture Festival in Celle 

  The 1st Êzîdî Culture Festival scheduled to take place in Celle, Germany was cancelled at the last minute after the municipality revoked permission at the last minute on the grounds of ‘concerns over parking and security’
• Yılmaz Güney's 'Yol' in Cannes without 'Kurdistan' vignette 

  The classic film Yol (“The Road”) was screened again in Cannes this year, but to everyone’s surprise, the Kurdistan vignette used by Yılmaz Güney in the original is missing from the new version.
• Amed Theater Festival: Under all circumstances, we are artists 

  The 5th Amed Theater Festival continues with a collective spirit despite all pressures and policies of elimination.
• Latin American tour of Öcalan's book 'Capitalist Civilization' 

  The Latin American tour of the presentation of the book 'Capitalist Civilization' by Abdullah Öcalan, translated into Spanish, started in Caracas, Venezuela. The tour will continue through Colombia, Mexico and Ecuador.
• Hasankeyf's Zeynel Bey Tomb to be relocated tomorrow 

  The Zeynel Bey Tomb in Hasankeyf, which has been encased in a concrete foundation, has now been lifted from its original foundation. According to local reports, the tomb will be moved tomorrow.
• Belge Publishing raided: Two thousand books confiscated 

  Belge Publishing’s offices were raided by the police and two thousand books were confiscated.
• Open letter calls for stop of the relocation of Zeynel Bey Tomb 

  The imminent relocation of the Zeynel Bey Tomb in Hasankeyf will lead to the start of the irreparable destruction of the cultural heritage of 12.000 years old town Hasankeyf and a large part of the Tigris valley in the mainly Kurdish Southeast of Turkey.
• Relocation of Zeynel Bey Tomb in Hasankeyf may start next week 

  The imminent relocation of the Zeynel Bey Tomb in Hasankeyf will lead to the start of the irreparable destruction of the cultural heritage of 12.000 years old town Hasankeyf and a large part of the Tigris valley in the mainly Kurdish Southeast of Turkey.